Psychologist's Advice For Maintaining Sanity During Self-isolation

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

4 Psychologist Tips to Keep Your Sanity While Self-Isolating

The inability to go out at any time, a change in the usual course of life, negatively affects a person's mental health. During the self-isolation regime, it is worth adhering to some rules so as not to go crazy.

Live by a routine

At first, it may seem that a long weekend is a long-awaited opportunity to finally put in order the backlog. But by the end of the first week, it becomes clear that chaos in life and in the house is only growing. And really nothing can be done.

This is not surprising if a person is used to living according to a set schedule, the key points of which are home, work, training, etc. Other activities usually fit in between them. In the context of the sudden appearance of time, it seems that planning is not that important. And this is the key mistake.

A strict regime will help prevent devastation and desolation. Make a plan for the day in which you clearly write down the key points. In isolation, they will be different than in normal times.

Schedule meal times, home fitness workouts, and animal walks. If you have children, setting aside some time for activities together will strengthen family bonds. In the case of remote work, it is worth starting from it, even if there is no strict time binding. Better to set strict timing boundaries for work activities.

Hang the plan in a prominent place so that other family members can navigate, because many points will apply to them too. It is better to agree such moments together.

Write down all daily activities (routine cleaning, cooking, etc.) and long-term ones (disassemble in the closet, glue the wallpaper) separately for yourself. You will fit them into free spaces.

With this approach, you will see the results of your work every day. And the realization that the day was not in vain already means a lot.

Schedule time for yourself

Be sure to set aside time for yourself on your schedule. This can be one hour at the end of the day, or several 15-20 minute intervals at regular intervals. As you prefer. So you can escape from your daily routine by reading a book, arranging relaxing home treatments or watching your favorite TV show.

Even if you've never been physically active before, now is a good time to start. It can be simple exercises, dancing, sports activities with children - whatever you can do. Exercise relieves stress and invigorates.

You should not immediately rush into the embrasure of difficult training. Start small. Many exercises can be found in videos on the internet. If you wish, you can sign up for online training with specialists who will tell you how and what to do. Keeping fit is a good investment in your health.

Dose information

It is important to be in the know. But you shouldn't make reading the news feed the goal of life. Often in the media, information is presented with the whipping up of panic and fear. In such conditions, the mental state will be constantly on the edge, it is fraught with a breakdown. Fear, expectation of the worst paralyze the will. A person loses the ability to see things sensibly and make adequate decisions.

If you can't resist watching the news on social networks, limit your access to them. Unsubscribe from those groups where users communicate most often. Usually their comments are uninformative, they give a subjective opinion, often with a bright emotional connotation.

It is especially worth ignoring the personal stories of specific people living far away from you, even though it sounds cruel. But what difference does it make to you that in some town of one overseas country a dog sat for three days without water and food, because the owners were hospitalized due to an epidemic of the disease. This does not carry any useful information for you, but it can add a drop to the general hysteria.

A time limit for getting acquainted with the news will help to maintain information hygiene. Dosing information concerns not only news about the current situation in the country and the world. Someone rushes headlong into learning new sciences, mastering new skills. In itself, this is not bad, but in everything you need to know when to stop.

If you subscribe to a hundred mailings on various topics and another fifty free courses, then it will end in complete failure. It is better to choose one, maximum two areas in which you would like to improve yourself. Do just that. Save your strength.

Surround yourself with pleasant

What gives you pleasure will help you not go crazy during isolation. Since you are constantly at home, first add some nice little things to the decor. Let it be beautiful curtains, a cozy blanket on the sofa. If you wish, you can even get a New Year's garland in order to watch the blinking lights in the evenings and somehow get distracted from heavy thoughts.

Think about your favorite movies. You can watch them alone in your private time or arrange a family movie show. Play your favorite music every day, even if you're not in the mood. If family members have different tastes, listen with headphones.

Creative activities are good for relaxing. Try to paint. You don't have to use traditional paintbrushes - apply blots to the paper with your hands or a sponge. Many different techniques are described on the Internet, there are also lessons. Children will especially like this kind of creativity.

Think about needlework - knit, cut with a jigsaw, sculpt from clay. Any activity where fine motor skills are involved contributes to the development of neural connections in the brain. And the result is a lot of fun.